


Nightmares

by Cuppatea13



Series: The Stories of Arlie [14]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Board Games, F/M, Family Fluff, Gen, Hurt & Comfort, Interlude, Sorry!, it's adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 12:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3381644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuppatea13/pseuds/Cuppatea13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint can't sleep- turns out he's not the only one. (Main story is: Reliant, this is an interlude.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a little interlude of family fluff that was requested by someone who's penname I wrote down and then put in such a safe place I can no longer find it. They had mentioned potentially camping, but since I had already mentioned that in one of Phil's birthdays, I decided to go with the family pulling an all-nighter. I apologize that I can't put your name up here- you know who you are, and I wish I could remember! Either way, here is your family fluff interlude!

**September 17th, 2010 (Clint)**

I can't sleep. Nat's curled up next to me and she's, for once, not having any nightmares and neither am I, but my cracked ribs are stinging and I can't sleep.

Arlie's going to tell me it's my own damn fault for not taking the pain meds before bed.

Nat'll just give me that look.

And Phil would probably hand me the meds and say nothing.

Phil it is, then.

I crawl out of bed slowly in an attempt to let Nat keep sleeping but there's small chance of her sleeping through any sort of noise or movement- we've both been assassins too long for that. So her eyes pop open as I'm almost at the door and I can practically see her grabbing the gun she keeps under her pillow.

"Just me, Nat," I whisper, "Go back to sleep."

Nat, of course, ignores me and sits up, "Why are you awake?" I give her a sheepish grin, not really wanting to answer that. Even in the dark of the bedroom, I can see her roll her eyes when she figures it out anyways. And then she gives me that look. Not the nice one, but the one she gives me when she thinks I'm a идиот. (idiot)

I just shrug and continue on my way out to the kitchen where I'm pretty sure Arlie left the pain meds on the counter. Maybe I'll crash on the couch with Phil and watch a movie or something- no way will he sleep through me coming in and getting water and the pills. He sleeps almost as light as me and Nat.

However, when I reach the living room I find that my sister and Phil are both sitting on the couch flipping through tv channels. Phil hears me first and turns around.

"Hey," he says, looking me over, "What are you doing up?"

I shrug, "Couldn't sleep."

"It's your own damn fault," Arlie sing-songs without turning her head from the muted TV, "You should've taken the pain meds before bed." However, Phil stands up and goes to the counter that divides the kitchen from the living room and grabs the bottle of pills. I walk over as he pours a glass of water and guiltily take my medicine.

"Now," I sigh as I settle down on the couch next to my sister, "Why are you awake?"

She gives me that little shrug she does when she's slightly uncomfortable- torn between wanting to talk and wanting to remain quiet about whatever is bugging her. Phil and I exchange a glance above her head. For times like these, it's best to distract Arlie with something and then sneak in a few questions here and there before she tells you what's on her mind.

"What is this crap?" I ask, gesturing to the television.

"You try finding something good on at three in the morning with the sound off so two assassins who couldn't sleep through a fly buzzing two rooms away can get their rest," my sister retorts.

"Well, I'm not watching this with you two," Phil says, turning off the TV and getting up off the couch, "You're both cranky- so here, let's find something other than tv to occupy you," he starts going through some of Arlie's closets and drawers as the two of us slump together on the couch (after sticking our tongues out at each other- Arlie started it).

"Ah-ha," he says, pulling out something from the back of Arlie's closet and holding it in front of us in the dim 3 am light.

"I own board games?" Arlie asks, looking confused.

"You own Sorry?" I question.

"Come on, help me set it up," Phil tells us, ignoring our rolled eyes and slow movements. "I used to play this game all the time with my grandfather," he begins to tell us, and Arlie and I perk up- we love Phil's stories, "and he was  _good_  at this game. But he wasn't one of those adults who would let you win when you're a little kid, so he was constantly beating me. I used to get so frustrated with it, that one day I got some paint and turned all the pieces yellow- which was the color I always used. I figured, that way, I just got all the pieces in my home and Granddad wouldn't have anything to Sorry me  _with_. My dad was so angry with me, because that meant we would have to buy a new game, but my granddad, he just laughed and said it was good thinking on my part. Still, it wasn't until I was almost eleven that I actually won a game of sorry against him without any tricks." Arlie gives a small giggle at the story and I smile.

"So I guess Phil gets the yellow piece," Arlie teases a little, "I'll take blue," she says, snatching the blue pieces before I can grab them. We always used to fight over who got to be blue when we were little.

"Fine," I sigh, "I'll be green, then."

"I guess that leaves red for me?" Nat says, stepping into the room from the dark hallway. She gives us a small smile and then sits down on the floor between me and Arlie.

"Hey- couldn't go you back to sleep?" I ask, wrapping an arm around her waist. She shakes her head slightly.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long so I came to investigate and I found you hadn't invited me to the slumber party," she teases, "I'm hurt."

"We need more snack food for it to be a sleepover," Arlie chimes in, then dashes off to the kitchen. When she returns she's got sodas, a beer for Phil, chips, popcorn, and some candy.

"There," I say, gesturing around, "Now we just need some sleeping bags." Phil rolls his eyes and tosses the pillows from the couch into my face.

"That's the closest you're getting," he lectures me. "Now, let's start the game."

"I've never played this before," Nat admits, shifting a little where she sits.

"It's ok- it's pretty basic stuff, the directions should be in the box or you can have bird brain attempt to teach you. But warning: he's a sore loser."

Nat snags the directions and gives Arlie a grin, "Trust me, I've noticed."

"Hey- I'm in the room!" I protest as Phil shuffles the cards a bit before putting them in the center of the board.

"Imagine what we say when you're not," Arlie retorts.

"I shudder to think," I reply, heavy on the sarcasm.

"If you two don't stop bickering, we won't play this game," Phil warns.

"He started it," Arlie mumbles under her breath. Phil gives her a look and she rolls the die to see who goes first.

Despite Phil's warning, Arlie and I continue to bicker back and forth while we play the game. It's hard to tell who is in the lead- but I think Phil's winning because Arlie and I are so focused on taking out each other. I can see Arlie relaxing and decide to push a little to see what's got her up tonight.

"So how long have you been up now anyways?" I ask her as I push one of her pieces back to Start.

She gives a little shrug and replies, "Maybe three hours? I'm not really sure."

"Did something wake you up?"

She's distracted by Phil's next move so she replies without thinking, "I just had a nightmare."

I know my sister, and I know there is nothing "just" about nightmares.

"Which one?" I ask softly to her, keeping my eyes on the board as she makes her move, shoving one of my pieces to the side.

"Mr. Buchan was taking me away," she whispers. Mr. Buchan was one of Arlie's social workers, and he often took her away from the nicer homes for one reason or another. Arlie will sometimes have dreams that he comes and takes her away from us. Suddenly, I wish I had picked red so I could be sitting next to my sister as we play this game, but Phil and Nat both know how to help her, and so they move slightly closer to Arlie. Not close enough to be really noticeable or stifling, but enough to remind her that she is surrounded by us and we aren't letting her go anywhere anytime soon.

As far as nightmares go, I know Mr. Buchan is one of the worst for Arlie, but as far as actual people go, he was one of the better ones my sister was in the care of while I was gone.

There's irony for you.

"I win," Nat declares as she slides her final piece home a few moments later.

"What?" I say, looking at the board. "Where did that come from? I didn't even realize you had pieces at home!"

"Oh, Tasha," Arlie says with a sleepy smirk, "That was sneaky." Arlie's leaning up against the red head, practically asleep for the past few turns of Sorry.

Phil chuckles softly, "So- do we want to play another round?"

Arlie yawns broadly and nods even as her eyes droop. Phil and I exchange a glance- Arlie's avoiding dreaming tonight, for fear of another nightmare. I know the feeling, so we humor her.

"You got anything besides Sorry?" I ask, getting up to examine her closet where Phil first found the board game.

"I didn't even know I had that," she tells me as she watches Phil and Nat clear up the board. Nat hands her the bag of M&M's and she perks up slightly.

"We could always play something with a deck of cards," I say, pulling one out of a junk drawer in Arlie's desk.

"War?" questions Nat.

Arlie quickly shoots down that idea, "No fair- I am not nearly awake enough to do something like War."

"Here, we'll play Old Maid, do you remember how to, Arlie?" I ask, sitting down beside her.

She rolls her eyes, "Of course I remember, bird brain. We only played it about a thousand and two times."

"Which, you know," Phil says to Nat, "Is significantly different from the effect of only playing it a thousand and one times."

By the third round, Arlie's eyes are pretty much closed and she's struggling not to fall asleep against my shoulder. Nat and I exchange a glance, and she subtly slides the cards out of Arlie's hands while Phil starts to clean up. I pick up my sister and carry her into her bed, tucking her in.

"She'll be out like a light," I whisper to Nat as I shut Arlie's door behind me.

Nat nods, "She's deeply asleep, I don't think she'll have any dreams."

We both say goodnight to Phil and then go off to our own room, my arm around Nat's shoulders. She's wonderful, I think, she just spent the whole night up so my sister wasn't alone after having a nightmare. One of the few nights Nat was able to sleep peacefully, and she sacrificed it for Arlie. I press my lips into her hair and she gives me a small smile. She knows what I'm thinking, of course. She's Nat- she always knows.

The next morning, we all sleep to noon and not a single one of us had nightmares.


End file.
